Boxing coach Claudio Coelho, a lifelong resident of the Cantagalo favela (shanty town), hosted an event at his Academia Nobre Arte (“Academy of the Noble Art”) in Rio de Janeiro to raise awareness of ongoing efforts to divert slum youths from a life of crime and toward a path of “respect and integrity.”

The community gathering was part of a week of events leading up to UFC 134.

The pay-per-view event, which takes place Saturday at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, features many of Brazils’ top stars. It’s the first UFC event in Brazil since 1998.

The community event, which included a throng of local residents and media, drew dozens of local youngsters.

Coelho has trained a who’s who of MMA, including the Nogueira brothers (Rogerio Nogueira went on to become the South American boxing champion), Murilo Bustamante, Marcos Ruas, Fabio Gurgel, Amaury Bitetti, Wallid Ismail, Ralph Gracie, Renzo Gracie and Vitor Belfort.

Nowadays, the Cantagalo favela, sandwiched between the posh neighborhoods of Copacabana and Ipanema, has been divested of its prior drug lords through efforts of the UPP and BOPE police units.

Coelho guided these gradual pacification and social-reintegration activities – with the same principles used to squash cross-town rivalries between competing academies during the vale-tudo days. It’s helped create an environment safe for academic and athletic achievement of its young residents.

The success story of Cantagalo and of the Academia Nobre Arte is one which Coelho hopes to repeat across the Brazilian metropolis.

For the latest on the UFC 134 card, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

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